The ENERGY GLOBE World Award goes to India

Top environmental gala televised worldwide from Rwanda

Top-ranking UN VIPs, famous environmental champions, a glamorous gala,
and, above all, the world’s best environmental projects comprised the
ENERGY GLOBE Gala Rwanda 2010.This year the top environmental gala served as the official opening event for the UN World Environment Day, demonstrating what importance the ENERGY GLOBE has achieved.

Excitement at the environment gala televised worldwideThe level of excitement was unbelievably high at the start of the Gala: Before a full house, environmental VIPs delivered the introductions: top Rwandan politicians, UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner, UNEP climate hero Luo Hong, Peter Rae (vice president of the environmental initiative REN21) and Ian Redmond (patron of the Great Apes Survival Project).

Nervousness was particularly evident among the nominees in the five categories: Who would take home the coveted ENERGY GLOBE World Award at the end of the Gala? Who would win in the categories Earth, Fire, Water, Air and Youth? At home, family and friends sat in front of their televisions to view their share of over 500 total hours of Gala broadcasting worldwide thanks to Rwanda TV.

As the winner of the ENERGY GLOBE in the category Water was announced, emotions began to rise in the hall: Rejoicing erupted among the team of a project from India, “River from Heaven”, which works to supply water to rural areas. Then everything went quickly at the Awards: The ENERGY GLOBE in the category Earth went to Mauritius, where “Seeds of Hope” achieves reforestation and biodiversity. The award for the category Fire distinguished floating power plants in Norway. In the category Air, a CO2 saving engine from Taiwan took the prize. The Youth winner was a school self-sufficiency concept from Argentina that provides healthy nutrition for pupils and sustainably teaches them cultivation.

The ENERGY GLOBE World Award goes to …An absolute climax was the selection of the ENERGY GLOBE World Award by the audience. Moderator Desirée Nosbusch talked with UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner, the award presenter, about World Environment Day. Meanwhile in the background the audience votes were being counted. Then finally came the announcement: With a clear margin, the victory went to the winner of the Water Award, India!

Emotional Gala with a messageHowever, the nominees were not the only excitement: During the Gala and at the after-show concert, pop and chanson diva Viktor Lazlo delivered samba flair. Inganzo Ngali, Rwanda’s best-known folklore group, added local color to the Gala. The impressive and committed projects that received the awards ensured that this high-class gala did not lose sight of its actual purpose. These projects made the glamorous festival a highly visible signal for sustainability and environmental awareness. Our environment needs initiatives and developments like these projects. The ENERGY GLOBE Gala, which is unique in form and importance, puts these projects in the limelight. The worldwide TV broadcast of the Gala addresses a huge global audience regarding the importance of sustainability for our planet. This is a unique gala with a message.

The nominees:

Category Earth• Federated States of Micronesia: On the island of Korae, Micronesia Eco Inc. has established a recycling system that conserves resources and generates income for inhabitants.• Mauritius: The seedling program of Flora Marketing CO LTD offers residents new sources of income while ensuring biodiversity and combating massive deforestation.• Austria: Meeting the German passive house standard with the renovation of an energy-hungry old apartment building was a challenge. A special solar façade enabled GIWOG to succeed.

Category Fire• Bangladesh: FAROOQUI Foundation supplies portable solar energy in rural Bangladesh. Centrally located solar panels and portable batteries now bring light to villagers.• Nepal: The improved water mills of the Centre for Rural Technology not only make work easier; they also deliver urgently needed, clean power in rural Nepal. • Norway: Statoil ASA New Energy has constructed a prototype of a floating wind power plant. Now wind energy can also be harvested on the open sea.

Category Water• India: Networked underground rain water tanks supplied by Sustainable Innovations already provide 10,000 residents of rural India with clean drinking water. • Pakistan: The extensive water and hygiene program of Aga Khan Planning and Building Service delivers water supply systems and health training to Pakistani villages. • Germany: HelioTech Türk GmbH has implemented an economical desalination plant that uses solar energy to make salt water drinkable and works even in remote areas.Category Air• Taiwan: Less CO2 through more efficient engines was the idea behind Epoch Energy Technology Corp.’s Hybrid Fuel System. It can be retrofitted into any engine and produces a hydrogen/oxygen mixture as additional fuel. • USA: The city of Ann Arbor, Michigan, has saved money and energy since transforming its street lighting to LEDs. This perfectly combines economy and CO2 reduction.• Sweden: The Malmö Environment Department supports public photovoltaic projects and so advertises for CO2-free energy production.

Category Youth• Argentina: The self-sufficiency program of Ciudadanía Solidaria provides healthy nourishment at the school in La Soledad while teaching pupils and teachers about sustainable organic farming.• Slovenia: The project “Ustanova Ekosola kot nacin zivljenja” lets pupils in the school center in Velnje test how energy saving works. This prototype is affecting all of Slovenia.• Morocco: Under the motto “Ecology live”, the Mohammed VEX Foundation for Environment Protection supports schools toward becoming eco-schools.